Santa Clara County Cooperative Extension

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Chicken-Powered Composting:
Nature's Efficient Recyclers at Work

Would you like some help with composting but are short on labor? Let your chickens do the work! At Garden to Table Silicon Valley Community Farm in San Jose they create a mound, or “Chicken Mountain”, of agricultural scraps and sprouted seeds for the flock, where the chickens eagerly peck and scratch, accelerating decomposition. By foraging for food, insects, and worms within the pile, the chickens meet much of their nutritional needs while producing a nutrient-rich manure that enriches the compost. This symbiotic system not only accelerates composting but also reduces waste and enhances soil fertility, creating a truly sustainable cycle.

You can see the chickens being fed at the farm in this video. For a closer look at how this method can be applied on a working farm, check out this YouTube video about a farm in Tennessee.